All Problems

Kinematics

Problem 1.8

Two boats, AA and BB, move away from a buoy anchored at the middle of a river along the mutually perpendicular straight lines: the boat AA along the river, and the boat BB across the river. Having moved off an equal distance from the buoy the boats returned. Find the ratio of times of motion of boats τA/τB\tau_{A} / \tau_{B} if the velocity of each boat with respect to water is η=1.2\eta=1.2 times greater than the stream velocity.

Reveal Answer
τA/τB=η/η21=1.8\tau_{A} / \tau_{B}=\eta / \sqrt{\eta^{2}-1}=1.8